By KEITH UPCHURCH

kupchurch@heraldsun.com; 419-6612

DURHAM -- The Durham County Health Department will offer more clinics at expanded times for giving H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines.

Beginning this week and continuing through December, H1N1 vaccination clinics will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., at the health department at 414 E. Main St.

"The new H1N1 vaccination clinic hours allow our staff to deliver vaccines to our community in a more continuous flow and decrease lag time between clinics," said Gayle Harris, director of the Durham County Health Department.

While vaccination clinics will be open more often, those who need them must make an appointment to be seen at the health department. That will allow health department workers to have a clear idea of how many people can be seen on a given day, she said.

The clinics will be geared to high-risk groups. They include pregnant women, people who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months old, anyone from 6 months through 24 years old, those 25 through 64 years old with certain chronic medical conditions or a weakened immune system, and health care and emergency medical personnel. All children who receive the vaccine must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

The next H1N1 vaccination clinic is set for Tuesday.

Appointments can be made by calling the H1N1 Vaccination Information Line at (919) 560-7882.

Harris said the extended days and hours doesn't mean that more mass clinics similar to the one Wednesday at the National Guard Armory won't also be held.

''We will be doing mass clinics later on,'' Harris said in an interview Friday. "It will depend on the distribution of vaccines to us -- the shipments that we get. We realize that certainly when this is opened to the entire community, we will have to do many clinics in different venues.''

Harris said the department may hold a mass clinic in December. ''We will be waiting to see what the shipments look like around the holidays,'' she added.